#Aquarium black light fixtures skin#

Making the choice between using actinic or blacklights for your glowing aquarium depends on when or how you would like to view it. Unshielded UV bulbs are used in bug zappers to attract insects to their demise. Think of it like lighting a fire to heat a room the flame also gives off light as well as heat and you may put a screen in front of it to block the light and protect yourself from the flames.

This filter changes the wavelength slightly so it is dampened to about 370-400nm, a range which we can start to see as a purplish or dark blue glow. This produces the radiation, but it also produces visible light so a filter is used on the bulb itself to block some of this light. In order for a light bulb to function, a chemical phosphor inside the glass is ignited. The color you see when a blacklight is on is a by-product of the UV production itself. Right now, some of you may be saying “But I can see when a blacklight is on….its purple!”. For comparison, the UV Sterilizers popular in aquariums for eliminating algae, diseases and parasites are UV-C bulbs (200-280 nm), a destructive spectrum that is mostly filtered out by Earth’s atmosphere and the UV-B range in between is the more damaging rays from the sun that causes sunburn and other harmful conditions.

#Aquarium black light fixtures skin#

Blacklight bulbs are UV-A bulbs (315-400nm), the spectrum which causes our skin to tan. Yes, this is the same UV light that we wear sunscreen to protect ourselves against! UV lighting is separated into three major ranges. “Blacklights” emit a light below what we as humans are able to see known as ultraviolet or UV light.

This type of lighting is still well within what we are capable of seeing. The higher end of this range (460nm) produces a more blue color light, while the color shifts to purple approaching the lower end (420nm). Most actinic lighting for aquariums has a wavelength of about 420-460nm. Blacklights and actinic lights both produce light from the bottom of the visible light spectrum (the BIV in ROY G BIV). Most people can see light ranging from about 700nm (reds) to about 400nm (purples). The colors we see around us come from the light’s wavelength, measured in Terahertz (THz) or nanometers (nm). Aquarium with invertebrates and corals will have different needs since their light requirements are much more specific and extensive. For this blog, we will be focusing in general terms only for community aquariums. Knowing the difference between these two can play an important role in making your tank really stand out, as well as in keeping it healthy. There are two main kinds of light that are used in these aquariums: “blacklights” and actinic lights. Most of these animals and decorations are brightly colored in any light but under special lighting, the colors will really glow.

With the growing popularity and availability of fish like GloFish and GloTetras and decorations like our own Pure Aquatic Glow Elements line, “glow-in-the-dark” and fluorescent aquariums are becoming more and more common.